What is a “manageable” cost for birth control?

“Manageable.” That’s how conservative, anti-choice National Review columnist Michael New describes our lives and the costs of our families in his rebuttal to my Huffington Post column. Never mind that for some women, working women like Jersey Garcia, contraception can cost upwards of $500 yearly and that these costs compete with monthly necessities, such as child care.

Forget that the recession is creating such a challenge for families that new research of health care providers shows that more one in five public providers and the majority of private providers report patients have difficulty paying for visits to obtain birth control and contraception itself. In fact, according to the Guttmacher Institute:

Most providers, public and private, think that one of the most important ways to improve contraceptive use is to extend private insurance coverage for contraception and expand public insurance for the uninsured.

We had a successful Week of Action for Reproductive Justice, but clearly the work isn’t over. We can’t stop now. We need to make sure that Congress continues to hear our voices and understand our need for affordable and accessible birth control coverage under the new health care reform law. Otherwise, men like Michael New may ultimately decide what is and isn’t “manageable” in our lives.